UBC engineers are developing technologies to strengthen Canada’s defence capabilities while helping industry adopt advanced manufacturing, backed by an $8.76 million PacifiCan investment.
The Asymmetry Last Line (ALL) research accelerator focuses on affordable, domestically produced technologies suited to extreme cold and remote environments. Its priorities include power systems, aerospace materials, marine technologies, and sensors.
Professor Adam Thomas Clare’s team is tackling projects ranging from a Canadian-designed small jet engine to a manufacturing innovation heading toward a potential spin-off.
The latter addresses a persistent challenge in robotic machining: vibrations that compromise precision when industrial robots cut large metal components.
The team’s solution uses a rotating mass mounted on the robot arm to counteract those vibrations. The approach could allow comparatively inexpensive, flexible robots to perform work that otherwise requires large, costly machines, with applications across aerospace, marine, construction, and energy.
According to Innovation UBC, the accelerator gives smaller companies access to expertise, demonstrations, and prototyping opportunities to reduce the risks of adopting new technology.
PacifiCan funding supports equipment including metal 3D printers, advanced microscopes, marine robotics tanks, and low-temperature testing infrastructure, helping researchers and industry move technologies from design through testing and deployment.
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